I Need Your Heartbeat
by TheLaikynVictoria
Summary: In light of tragic events, McGee tells Ziva exactly what it is that he needs.


**_A/N- So, a new oneshot! Surprise surprise. =D_**_** This came out of feeling kinda blue, and Sherry cheering me up on Twitter. I told her that I'm gonna write some fluffy McGiva to feel better, and she offered up the prompt 'Heartbeat' from the NFA random pairing generator. I, of course, went straight to angst, BUT I kept the fluff. =D So please review! =]**_

* * *

No one saw it coming. Yes, they were prepared for it and they knew what to do were it to happen. But what are you suppose to do when your teammate is lying there, dying, and there's nothing you can do but wait?

The shootout with the terrorists had gone down fairly easily. The team infiltrated the old, dilapidated house on the outskirts of DC with nothing but professionalism. (That is, as professional as Tony and Tim bickering about which one is a more accurate shot can be) They got inside in complete stealth, their guns drawn and flashlights pointed forward. The men came out of nowhere. There were five of them, making Team Gibbs outnumbered. Usually, this would be no problem, but one of them was just too quick. When six bodies hit the floor, Gibbs, Tim and Tony realized that Ziva had been hit.

"Ziva!" Tim was the first to react. He rushed to her side and awkwardly held his hands above the bullet-sized hole in her abdomen. "Ziva, Babe, stay with me."

"We need an ambulance to 387 Johanna street." Gibbs spoke into his cell phone, though Tim could barely hear him. All he could see was Ziva's eye's slowly closing, and all he could hear were her gasping breaths.

"Zi, please, hold on." Tim pleaded. It came as no surprise to Tony and Gibbs that Tim and Ziva were an item. They'd always been close, and the tension was always there, so one night, they just so happened to be at the same bar.

The rest was history.

So now, as Ziva lay dying in his arms, all Tim could think about was the future that they could have had.

"_No, that we __can__ have._" Tim mentally reprimanded himself. "_She's not gone yet._"

He now sat with his shirt pressed to her wound as he attempted to stop the blood loss. He could almost feel her heart beating slowly, and slower still. There was so much blood...The shirt was near soaked.

"There's..There's just too much." Tim folded the shirt every which way, trying to make it affective but he wasn't doing a very good job. "God, no, Ziva."

"I love you, McGee." She rasped. With that, her eyes completely closed. Under his hands, he felt her heart stop.

"No!" Tim screamed. "Ziva, don't do this!" He was unaware that the ambulance had arrived; That is until one of the paramedics had to pry him off of her.

"Sir, let us do our job!" He yelled at him. So Tim stumbled backward into Tony and Gibbs, his hands shaking and covered in her blood.

"Sh-She can't be dead." Tim stuttered as he clutched on to Tony and Gibbs, slowly sinking to the ground.

"Tim, come on." Tony urged. "Let's go to the hospital." The ambulance had just sped away from the house, leaving the other three agents behind.

It was nearly five hours before a doctor came to inform them of Ziva's condition. The shot had been clean; Through and through. It missed all major organs, but the blood loss was bad, and was what made her momentarily stop breathing. She'd lost nearly fifty percent of her blood, yet by some act of God, she survived. Now, Tim sat at her bedside, gripping her hand gently in his and rubbing his thumb back and forth. She had been out for about three hours, and Gibbs and Tony had since left. (Though they wouldn't have had it not been for Tim's insistence) Abby had come by for a little while, but she, too, left after Tim said he'd stay with her.

He still was gripping her hand as he slowly laid his head on the edge of the bed. Before he knew it, he drifted off.

Ziva could barely open her eyes. The pain she was feeling throughout her entire body was unbearable. She quickly took stock of her surroundings. Curtain, wall-mounted TV, the ever-present bleach smell in the air.

Hospital. She was in a hospital. What had happened? Her mind was fuzzy, which is why it took her a long while to realize the other person in the room, and the fact that said person had her hand firmly in his.

"Tim." She croaked. When he didn't move from his sleeping position, she wiggled her hand that he held, "Tim."

He groggily looked up at her, his eyes half-lidded. When he saw that she was awake, he sat up straight, his eyes wide open.

"Ziva." He breathed. "I..You're awake...Hi."

"Hello, McGee." She couldn't help but grin.

"Ziva, I'm so glad you're okay." He took her hand he already held into both of his and kissed it gently.

"Of course I am alright," she told him, "you cannot get rid of me that easily."

"You..You have no idea, Ziva." Tim stated seriously. "I..I felt your heart stop. Under my hands. It stopped."

Ziva stayed silent, unsure of what to say.

"I don't ever, _ever,_ " he emphasized, "want to lose you like that again."

"I cannot promise that you will not," Ziva said softly. "But I can promise that I will try my very hardest not to get myself killed."

"Thank you." Tim grinned. "That's..All I ask."

He leaned forward and kissed her, before adding in a whisper,  
"_I_ need _your_ heartbeat, Ziva."

"You already have it." She whispered back. "You've always had it."


End file.
